Down, but not out

The blog took another hit yesterday. Yesterday I mentioned that things in my personal life were gonna be a bit more time consuming for a little while, but today's news brought an unfortunate (but expected) setback. As some of you know I'm a bike messenger that's dedicated to a large law firm in Charlotte, NC. I've been doing this for almost thirteen years now, and I've enjoyed some fringe benefits with our unique relationship. The firm has a satellite office where some of the non-revenue generating personnel are housed to free up space in the main building. Over the past few years (a lot of them) I've been delivering interoffice mail on an hourly basis between the two offices. Due to the economy they have lost some people and with their lease coming up on the satellite office they decided to bring those people back in house. How does this affect the blog?

Well one of the fringe benefits I've enjoyed is access to a computer in a training room or spare cubicle. Although the big move doesn't take place till closer to the end of the month the IT people have already started taking away unnecessary equipment (ie: my computer). This means that during the slow times at work (there are a lot of them nowadays) I will no longer be perusing local forums, MTBR, blogs, cycling news websites, Facebook, and all other manner of cycling related interweb garbage. How does this affect the blog?

Well one of the benefits of having computer access has been the ability to look for blog fodder throughout the day and to exercise the cynical lobe of my brain on forums. This kept my wit sharp and provided me with occasional material for my postings right here. With that access gone I'm gonna have to try harder to come up with shit to write about at teamdicky.blogspot.com. Also, on occasion, I would pre-write a post if I had an idea and the time to get it stored in a happy digital/electronical webularity manner. Now if I have a fabulous idea it's gonna have to wait until I get up the next morning as I try to stay off the interweb in the evening so I can spend time with my family. None of this matters as much as the "big picture" though. The "big picture" will be the biggest impact to the blog. How does this affect the blog?

Well one of the biggest benefits of the two offices was the hourly interoffice mail run. It is (soon to be was) a big part of my income, especially since the recession. With it gone I'll be hit in the financial realm rather hard. Meh. I'll also lose access to a cool refrigerator, a closet where I kept back up items (like a spare tire, a shitty plastic rain coat, and all manner of crap) and also where I'd put spare clothing as I shed it throughout the day (freeing up valuable bag space), and I'll lose the general chummery of having some form of "co-workers". Ah yeah, the financial thing is still probably the biggest PITA though. How does this affect the blog?

Well, with less disposable income I'll be disposing of less income on making great bike race. Being an "adult" I have to be "responsible" with my money, so that means continuing to add to a pile of money that I will need to deplete when I get older so I can get Medicaid and whatnot. Making great bike race has always been on the list of extravagances I get to enjoy being a over paid member of the American work force. Life will still be good as The Pie and I are both bread winners, and both The Pie and I are practical people. Unless the economy turns around though I'll just win a lot less bread than she does for awhile. I truly believe that either the economy will turn around eventually or it will degrade to the point of Armageddon, so either way I probably shouldn't get too wrapped up in my earnings situation. The situation will probably take care of itself. Hopefully next year I will still have the support of some of my sponsors and great bike race will still be made, but I've heard this recession thing has affected people OUTSIDE of Charlotte, NC. I guess it was all over the interweb, but I was busy poking fun at people on MTBR and discussing leaf blowing techniques on local trail forums. Anyways, the year's not over yet, and all the details about my next "season" are still being haggled over by top level attorneys on both sides. Don't worry, Mike Piazza says the future's so bright we both need to wear shades.

Speaking of attorneys... Mike Piazza says he will sacrifice his Giro Havik shades and sell them to benefit the making of great bike race in 2010. They are new, and no reasonable offers will be refused. Unreasonable offers such as the trading of small livestock for the shades will be considered.